ABC Financial / golds gym cancellation

All I wanted to do was join the newest workout club in town. I did not realize that I should have consulted with an attorney before signing on to join Golds. Seven months latter my financial situation has changed and I've had to make some difficult but necessary decisions with my finances and budget. Also to be honest the quality of the club and their unkept promises as to future changes have left me disappointed. I thought that I originally joined Golds but it seems ABC Financial pulls all the financial strings here. They say I obligated myself through May 2010. If Golds had any creditability at all they would drop this infuriating policy of contracts. It only serves their short term financial needs. In the long run it harms them in the anger and discontent that their clients have with them when the ' contract' obligates them to pay for something they no longer can afford or no longer want to use. What is wrong with a month to month contract? It serves all parties fairly, ensures the club must continually meet it's clients expectations and allows for a contented customer without the noose of a 'contract' around their neck. Personally I wish I didn't have to use my time here now, but what resort do I have other than to warn others of these anti-consumer policies by clubs like Golds. I told Golds and ABC that I would be exercising my right to free speech and posting my experiences with them. Also in my local community I will use my voice to warn other to stay clear of Golds. There Golds and ABC see what ill will you have erroneously sown for yourselves, through your money hungry policies towards your customer, now former customer. By the looks of my google searches on your companies it appears I am just one of many on a long list of dissatisfied former customers. It's not just me, think about it. Will you choose greed or at least try to treat your customers with fairness and dignity?

Comments

First of all, you joined the club for whatever term was written on the agreement. They didn't force you into their club. You walked in all on your own. Secondly, you signed that agreement knowing that your finances could either get better or worse during that term, neither result of which gives you any legal right to absolve yourself of the responsibility to pay what you owe. Third, it takes millions of dollars to buy equipment for clubs. Everyone wants the latest gear but nobody wants to pay for it. You complain about them leaving you disappointed, yet at the same time you're trying to squirm out of your end of the deal. Which is it? Either join and pay up your fair share or stop complaining. You know why Gold's probably disappointed you? Because about 500 other losers like you who can't keep their end of the agreement tried to bail out on their agreements as well. Equipment doesn't grow on trees. Long term agreements serve both the club and its members, both in the long-term. The club can plan on upgrading equipment only if it knows that money will be coming in down the road. Members will only get new equipment to play with if they stick around and keep their end of the deal. Like it or not, equipment is not cheap. Either go buy your own gear for your home gym or join a gym and stop complaining because they expect you to stick to your end of the deal. Lazy people quit gyms all the time and do nothing but complain. Get over it.

Workingman - How appalling that you talk that way to people. Your a loser to be so judgemental! The fact of the matter is, it's a pain in the ### to cancel!!!
I know what I signed, but I asked the lady the purpose of having to send a certified letter, and she couldn't answer that question for me! She just said that's what you signed in the contract. No ###...that wasn't my question, lady! What's the purpose.
My membership was paid through my company, but yet every month I had to call ABC Financial to get reimbursed back because they kept debiting MY account instead. Why aren't they following their contract of someone else paying for it! Are they losers now?
And now that I need to cancel because I was let go from my company as well as thousands of other people, ABC Fincial gets to charge all of us for a month because they need a 30 day cancellation notice.
You think I have money to pay for that after being let go. They don't care, nor do they care about all the hassle they put me through.
Face it...ABC FINANCIAL SUCKS!!! And they will rip you off as much as they can.

I am a member of Golds Gym and there are over 500 complaints against Golds Gym, any loser is the loser that owns or works for Golds Gym, employee turn over is very high due to less than HONORABLE people, check out my website... http://www.wiopenhouse.com, the truth is the truth, go back to your cave in the basement, been there done that... Disabled Army Veteran screwed by Golds Gym aka ABC Financial Services. Every member is allowed to cancel, until you really want to cancel... then you can't cancel...

I paid 18 month membership in full and gave 100 day notice to cancel, Golds Gym will not allow me to cancel and ABC Financial Services is another losing business trying desperately to keep members that don't want to be a member...

I have been a member since before they were Gold's Gym. I am not at all thrilled with the way things are being run.
The gym is dirty and the bathrooms are disgusting. The other day it was pointed out to me the the way the Smoothie bar is being run is absurd. I paid attention and was appalled. These people don't clean out the blenders and don't even wash their hands after handing out dirty towels and playing on the computer-they just grab all ingredients (ie bananas) with their bare hands-pretty unsanitary.
Also, I signed a year contract at the same time as several other people. I have heard that it says five year agreement on pricing on the contract. It was explained as the gym was agreeing to abide by that rate for 5 yr if you chose to stay and sign a 1 year agreement. I am hearing now they are telling customers that they signed for 5 years. They will also charge fees of $1-3 every month as well as a $29 procesing fee every year if you have it deducted monthly from a cc or account.
On another note, as an FYI-if you use a personal trainer, your sessions EXPIRE at the discretion of your trainer so make sure you ask before you buy and get a signature. I lost out on 5 training sessions ($300!!) because I stopped going to the gym for the summer months.
The only reason I go is because I enjoy the class schedules they offer and my body is allergic to working out at home :)
Next complaint is that they advertise their sauna/hot tub. They had it out of order for several months 'updating it' and except for about 2-3 months, the damn thing hasn't worked since! Then again...after seeing how they can't clean a toilet, not sure I would want to use it anyway!
I don't believe it costs 'millions' for those machines. Most of them have been there for a long time, just rearranged. I would say the initial startup for all machines and weights...$200k. All of which was prob paid under previous gym.
Ridiculous! (As I make my way to the gym in the morning-what a hypocrite I am...but I feel better!)
Good Luck to all!
Mike

I cancelled my golds gym membership after my 3 year commitment. When I called to cancel they made it very difficult had to send a cert letter to their corp office, was pissed but I did what they said. The next month I had to pay becuase I cancelled at the end of January so I paid for Febuary. But guess what when I check my bank account on March 3 they took out monthly fees again. I called corp again and was told I have to send in the bar codes for both my accounts or paid ten dolloars nobody ever told me that.
I asked to speak to a manager and she would not come to the phone said there was nothing she could do, I had to pay or turn in the bar codes (the little tags you put on your key chains). I am so pissed they were not helpful at all and very rude. I spoke to a lady there and told her nobody ever told me I had to turn in the bar codes and she didn't believe me said he always tells customers that the need to do that. I guess I have to pay $20 and pay for another month of membership... but I am so pissed. They should try to be more nice and helpful with customer what if I want to join later on down the road again, but I will never join another gym in my life...

I would not recommend joining Gold's Gym in Green Bay to anyone. The staff is downright horrible. They are rude, and actually cut down the clients while they work out in the gym! I have never been around personal trainers this unprofessional. They're not even going to build the larger version of the gym now.

There is a reason people will tell you to read before you sign. In the contract you sign, it would have specified the term of the agreement, the fact that you have to send a certified letter with a 30 day notice to cancel, and that they can and will debit the account number that YOU gave them for any and all charges incurred, including the final month of billing while your cancellation request is being processed. The fact that YOU chose to sign that agreement, for the term indicated, without reading the agreement is not the fault of the company that Gold's contracts to process their billing and cancellation requests. Neither is anything contained in the contract their fault. Their only duties are to collect money from the members for the gym, and enforce the contract you signed.

While i haven't joined the gym in greenbay there is one of that same company in dallas texas and i have had the same problems with them, at first i was told that i was signing a month to month agreement, as it turned out when i tried to cancel they said i couldn't cancel it and i was locked into a 6 month agreement, also they tell me that i have to put in a 30 day notice that i'm cancelling it so i do, after the 6 months are complete i'm still getting charged for the account, at that point i call abc financial and they say i was in fact locked in for a 1 year agreement and after looking over my contract i find that they are lying to me as my contract says 6 months but they insist that it is one year, and when i tell them that they try to tell me that i must be looking at the wrong contract, i tell them that i've only signed the one, there is a lot more that they do but bottom line is that i have placed stop payments on this account and i will never again do business with this gym or any other, i would take legal action against them but unfortunately i dont have the funding to do so, so bottom line is since they get rich screwing everyone else over the average person can't even go after them because they have all of our money, funny how that works.

I have to agree with all of the comments. I spent over 10 minutes on hold with the corp office to cancel my account. They won't let me cancel anything. I had a paid in full membership, which, if I cancel I still apparently have to pay for the personal trainer until May 2010 because I'm locked in a contract. Now, personally I don't think that makes any sense whatsoever.
After reading all the comments online, I probably should have done a little bit more research first. All I wanted was to get in shape so that I can live a longer life and spend quality time with my kids without being out of breath all the time. Now, it goes to show I should have just bought a bowflex or something. This is without a doubt the worst decision ever made.

I'm glad to see I'm not the only one who feels screwed by GOLDS GYM,
I knew they were not going to build a new facility soon after I rejoined
based on the news that they were building a new club. This organization is a
bunch of crooks!, dishonest, scam artists. Bottom line... I'm canceling my auto
payment, and prepared to take them to court, in this economy and people losing jobs, we as citizens can not let crooks like these guys exist and
continue screwing and misleading people, and if anyone want's to call me a loser, you are no better than these a-------!

I have just done the same thing here in Edgewater, MD. I signed (according to them) a 36 month contract (which I need to look at) and wanted to cancel because they have not built the facility they painted a picture of when I signed up. The pool was suppose to be finished a year ago and is just sitting unfinished. The ladies room has only one light on in the shower room and is very dark and the whole facility is cold and nasty with very little warmth to it. I have one year left on my contract (according to them) and informed them that I have cancelled by automatic payments. I am going to send them a certified letter requesting immediate cancellation with these reasons stated clearly in it.
I have been going to gyms for over 20 years and Golds is the worse. I would not recommend them to anyone.

I'm in the same situation. My contract with Gold's Gym ran out several months ago, and I'm still getting charged. I called the gym to make sure I was canceled. They told me I was. Apparently, their word isn't good for anything. When I saw that I was still being charged, I was furious. It took me several weeks just to get an ABC financial rep on the phone. I don't even want to know what being on hold for over an hour a day did to my cell phone bill. I signed an agreement for 1 year w/ Gold's. It stated very clearly that in the contract that the agreement was for 1 year, and if I canceled earlier than that, I would still have to pay for the year. No problem. Apparently there was an additional part of the contract detailing that I would keep being charged even after the contract expired unless I gave them something authorized in writing. I think that must have been in small print or a different section.
It's companies like this that give the private sector a bad name. I think it says something profound about Gold's Gym that they're affiliated with rip-off artists like these. It says even more about Gold's that they make considerably more money off memberships than a place like Planet Fitness, yet their facilities seem more run down and dirtier. If anyone knows of a petition I can sign or some way to get justice from this company, I'd love to hear it. I'm tired of getting screwed by people who are in the business of making money without offering a decent service in exchange.

wt[censored] Golds gym really sucks i wish i could go back on time and never enroll in this crap!
now i want to cancell my membership and i have to send letters to abc proven my new adress im so pissed!!!

These C. Suckers at ABC and Gold's have the contract written so one sided you have to jump through flaming hoops to get out. Don't play their game of sending a certified letter 60 days notice to cancel. What kind of Bull S. operation are they running? Do what I did and call both Gold's and ABC and tell them my phone call is good enough. If they send my account to collection I will be consulting an attorney and suing them for damages to my credit rating. It's been six months now and I haven't heard from these gangsters.

I moved to a state without a Gold's Gym and have had to work for two months to cancel my membership. Before I even moved, I notified my local Gold's who asked me to contact ABC Financial. I did, and I learned that I'd need proof that my address had changed. So, I moved and I waited out the month or so before my bills came in. Finally, proof arrived and was faxed to ABC who says that I need to pay for yet another month because it takes 30 days to cancel. This is a surprise to me because every other service (Netflix, Comcast, etc) can be canceled immediately. By the way, I am already paying $50 to cancel because I moved and could not physically get to a Gold's in less than five hours driving time. I said I would either pay the $50 fee or the $30 additional billing charge but not both. When I asked to speak with a manager about this matter, no one was available. In fact the original woman I spoke to (Susan) did not identify herself when she returned to the phone after she said she would get a manager. I had to ask, are you a manager or is this the same person I was talking to earlier. I left my number and we'll see if any sort of manager calls me back. I would certainly think twice about ever joining Gold's again if I should move somewhere with one. Gold's should strongly consider their ties with ABC Financial as they lack basic customer service skills and protocal.

yeah...hell yeah to all of you. I'm going through a hell of a process with cancellation with GOlds Gym. I canceled with 24 hour fitness, and it was a bliss. I was very satisfy with 24 hour fitness. Golds Gym is some gold diggers. I turned in my cancellation letter and the director decided to hide what is required, so I get to pay another month for cancellation. I'm so PISSED OFF...she then said, "well we need this docs and this docs...for cancellation to take place." Take place my [censor]...why didn't she told me then!?! Anyone in GOLD's Gym, good luck to you...ADVICE TO OTHERS: STAY AWAY!!!

Screw Gold's Gym! Since when is a "one-year" contract actually 36 months, and renewed automatically? And why do they require 60 days notice via certified mail to cancel? There's more than one way to skin a cat though; at the end of my "one-year" contract, I sent them a certified letter of cancellation, but also went to my bank and, for a one-time fee, had them put a permanent stop payment on the automatic withdrawal. Gold's got all 11 payments as required by the contract, but can't draw a penny more out of my account. And there's nothing they can do about it. Screw 'em!

im going thru the same problem... i moved 23.5 miles away from the gym and i ve tryed to cancel my contract! i ve called abc financial, and they toldme that i can not! that i have to be 25 plus miles away to cancel!!! so, i asked, if i could pay a termination fee or something because i am not going to drive 23/5 miles to go to excersice! and the answer was NO. I have to pay 32 dlls for 1 whole year and 6 months without using the gym. I am currently attending 24 hrs fittness with a month to month membership. I have the same benefits that i had at golds! GOLDS GYM SUCKS!!! I am telling all the people i know NOT TO SIGN ANY CONTRACTS WITH GOLDS GYM!!